Dreams or Nightmares?: A Naru x Sasu fanfic
by KrissaKittyKay
Summary: For the past two months, Naruto has been having the same strange dreams, which are making him question himself. Is he still in love with Sakura, even though he's given up on ever having her heart?...Or is he falling for Sasuke, his old rival now turned sparring partner and best friend?
1. Chapter 1

_***(Hey, guys. So basically, this is a Naru x Sasu fanfiction that I'm coming up with on the fly, and I've put my own character in so that things'll get a little interesting. So if it sucks, I apologize deeply. That being said, let's see them get rekt! ^-^ Dreams are written in bold/italics like this note, memories are written in just bold, and thoughts are written in just italics.)***_

 _ ****Edit* I went through the story and rewrote the layout for the spacings - the dreams are still bold/italic, but they're also written in paragraph form now (three sentences).**_

 _ **Hope it makes the read easier.* ^-^  
** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

" _ **Hey, come on Naruto. Things will get better."**_ _ **Chiani Shiku, one of Naruto's friends, attempted to cheer him up as he poked at his ramen with one chopstick; he had finally decided he wasn't chasing after Sakura anymore.**_ _ **Naruto had lost.**_

 _ **He sighed, stirring his ramen aimlessly.**_ _ **Chiani tried saying something else, when Ino came up to them, out of breath.**_

 _ **"Naru-(huff)-to…"**_ _ **Naruto dropped his chopsticks into his bowl and jumped off of his seat.**_ _ **Carefully, he helped Ino onto it.**_

 _ **"Ino, what's wrong?"**_ _ **Chiani asked - Ino never ran to find Naruto unless it was something big that involved him.**_ _ **Ino took a swig of the water that the chef's assistant had brought her, then took deep breaths to steady herself.**_

 _ **"It's Sasuke." She panted. "He's awake. And he's asking for Naruto."**_ _ **Naruto nodded curtly, and dashed off in the direction of the hospital.**_ _ **Chiani sighed, crossing her arms as he left his bowl almost full.**_

 _ **"I think that's a first for him." She laughed, shaking her head.**_ _ **Ino shrugged, grabbed the bowl, and started chowing down.**_ _ **Chiani raised an eyebrow at her friend.**_

 _ **"Wah? Um hungwy." Ino mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.**_

 _ **Naruto thanked the nurse that lead him to Sasuke's room, and shut the door behind him.**_

 _ **"Sasuke?" He said softly.**_ _ **Sasuke whipped his head around to face Naruto.**_ _ **His face broke out into a grin.**_

 _ **"Hey, Naruto!" He motioned for Naruto to come closer.**_ _ **Naruto did so, rather confused, and Sasuke put an arm around his friend, pulling Naruto onto the bed to sit beside him.**_

 _ **"Okay, I knew you had a head injury, but this is weird." Naruto stated, feeling really uncomfortable. "Are you feeling okay? I mean, you're not really one to be all touchy-feely."**_ _ **Sasuke's grin became more mischievous as he slipped his arm around Naruto's waist.**_

 _ **"Oh, I'm fine." He said seductively. "In fact…"**_ _ **He drew Naruto closer so that their noses touched lightly.**_

 _ **"I've never felt better." He whispered before crashing his lips into Naruto's.**_ _ **Naruto felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.**_ _ **Just as his eyes fluttered shut, Naruto heard an alarm going off.**_

 _ **Right in his ear.**_

Naruto shot bolt upright in his bed, slamming his hand on the snooze button on the top of his alarm clock.

He held his head in his hands: these dreams were getting WAY too weird.

Naruto jumped out of bed, and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower; this was the third time this month he'd had a dream like that.

Why was he having this dream so much?

They'd started to get so vivid that Naruto couldn't look at Sasuke without feeling turned on - like, WAY on.

Kakashi-Sensei had noticed there was something going on with Naruto - he hadn't been fighting with Sasuke.

Actually, if Naruto actually thought about it, they hadn't fought for about a half a month.

It felt weird, but it felt good too.

Sakura…Naruto still liked Sakura, but the idea of giving up on her wasn't as impossible as it used to be.

Somehow.

He shut off the water, dried off, got dressed, and headed to meet the others.

"Morning, Sasuke!" Sakura cooed as always when she came up to meet them.

~ Naruto had actually been discussing strategies for defending against different attacks with Sasuke before Sakura had shown up.

Sasuke didn't seem too bothered by the lack of rivalry from Naruto.

Actually, he seemed a little glad of the friendly conversation. ~

Sasuke acknowledged Sakura with a nod.

Sakura turned to Naruto with a slight scowl.

"Oh, hey Naruto." She grumbled.

"Yo." Naruto said uninterestedly, waving his hand above his head in way of greeting.

"But what about Lee's moves?" He continued. "If there are ninja out there that can fight like that, then what?"

Sasuke thought for a bit, then shrugged.

"I dunno. Just don't fight 'em, I guess?" He tried.

Naruto frowned in confusion; Sasuke never suggested retreat.

Sasuke sighed at Naruto's expression.

"Honestly, I don't want to go up against an adult that has Lee's power." He admitted.

Naruto leaned against the railing of the bridge.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. That would be kind of scary." He murmured.

Sasuke looked a little flustered at that, and started messing with the ends of his bangs.

"You know, it's getting pretty weird how you're agreeing with me on stuff." He said in a low voice, kind of like the voice that he'd had in Naruto's dream.

Naruto shivered, and turned away from his friend.

"W-well, it's better than punching you in the face, right?" He stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sasuke glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, a small glimmer starting to grow.

He was about to say something, when Kakashi-Sensei poofed in front of them with his same old story about being distracted by nature, to which Naruto and Sakura replied by shouting "LIAR!"

Even though they were full-fledged ninja, Sensei still took them on training missions three days a week.

But there was a difference in the response to his excuse this time; Sakura was irritated, but Naruto was laughing.

Kakashi cocked his head to one side, his hands in his pockets.

"What's so funny then, Naruto?" He asked.

Naruto kept laughing, but shook his head.

"Oh, never mind, Sensei. I'll tell you tomorrow." He said.

Kakashi shrugged, and lead the squad to their next little mission.

The whole day off and on, Naruto could be heard giggling about seemingly nothing.

He talked with Sasuke about different tactics to keep the upper hand in battle, occasionally sparring to test them out.

He also chatted with Sakura about chakra control, output, and input, which surprised Sakura.

Naruto never really wanted to talk about training before.

Naruto spent more time with Sasuke than he used to as well, just talking about how this move was better than that for such and such a purpose, and this attack was better to use while dodging so that you could get your enemy while he was down-guarded.

Sakura shook her head in amazement.

She just didn't get it.

When she asked Sensei, he just shook his head.

"I can't figure it out, either Sakura."

Naruto met up with Chiani later that day at their usual lunch booth, and told her about his weird dreams, and the feelings they were leaving him with.

Chiani sighed as she set down her tea.

"How long have these been going on, Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto stared into his ramen.

"Almost two months now." He admitted.

Chiani groaned, and smacked herself in the forehead, shaking her head.

"Naruto, you should've come to me sooner." She scolded. "Why haven't you said anything before this?"

Naruto never looked up from his bowl.

He wasn't even eating.

"Because…It's only gotten so bad recently." He said.

Chiani crossed her arms sternly.

"How bad, exactly?" She demanded.

Naruto shut his eyes, but almost instantly the kiss from his recent dream flashed in front of him.

His eyes snapped open as he gasped from the slight shock.

Naruto started to shake.

"I can see it when I close my eyes." He muttered. "I can't stand next to him without feeling the urge to take him with me to someplace that no one else can get to, someplace beautiful, quiet, private."

He had to stop for a bit as the shaking got so violent he could barely hold his chopsticks.

Chiani put an arm around the boy, trying her best to soothe him.

Naruto said he wasn't feeling that hungry anymore, so Chiani paid the chef, and took Naruto to a meadow that the kunoichi teachers sometimes took their students.

It was quiet, but it was filled with wildflowers.

Chiani took Naruto to sit by an old tree, and sat down beside him.

"Okay, I'm listening, Naruto." She prompted gently.

Naruto took a deep breath, and started to speak again.

"I…I don't know. I want him to just…Hold me. I want him to do whatever he does in my dreams." He whispered, shivering again.

Chiani looked at Naruto in puzzlement.

"What, you mean sex?" She asked.

It was quiet, but it was blunt.

Naruto took his head in his hands, and started rocking back and forth.

"Oh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I feel like I'm going to explode, or something. I've got the worst stomach-ache ever, and my head hurts." He whimpered.

Chiani took Naruto's hand in hers.

"Relax. I think I know why you feel like you're gonna explode. Just…" She waved her hand across his eyes, using her chakra to make him drowsy. "Sleep." She finished in a whisper.

Naruto fell asleep against the trunk of the tree.

Chiani let go of Naruto's hand, then held her fingers in front of his face.

"Kurama!" She said sternly, snapping her fingers in front of Naruto's nose. "Kurama, now!"

Naruto stirred slightly as his face began to change.

It became more pointed and the whisker-like lines on his face deepened, and became more whisker-like.

Grunting in his sleep, Naruto opened his mouth slightly, revealing sharpened fangs.

His eyes snapped open, but now instead of their normal deep blue, they were a fiery blood red, with slitted pupils.

Naruto/Kurama sat up against the tree, growling lightly.

"Waddya want, kid?" He growled in a voice like Naruto's, but it was rougher.

Chiani crossed her arms again.

"You know 'Waddya want', you daft fox." She growled back. "Quit giving Naruto a hard time. He's confused, and building up your chakra so he doesn't feel well is just playing dirty."

Chiani scolded, thumping the feared fox on the nose rather hard with the handle of her kunai knife.

Naruto/Kurama yelped, rubbing at his nose.

"You don't have to hit me." He whined.

Chiani growled at him again.

"Well, YOU don't have to hurt Naruto. Who'd have guessed that the great Kurama plays dirty like any other demon?" She taunted.

Naruto/Kurama snarled at Chiani.

"Tcha, you wanna talk dirty? Do you KNOW the stuff that goes on in this kid's head at night?!" He snapped, knocking on his own head.

Chiani pulled a thoughtful pose.

"Hmm, let me think. NO, I DON'T! That's why I was talking to him, you jerk! Until YOU had to jump in and half-kill him, stupid!" Chiani stood up and kicked the fox as she spoke, causing Naruto/Kurama to jump up in order to dodge them.

"OKAY,I GET IT! No more Mr. Stomach-ache! Ya happy?" He hollered.

Chiani sat down again.

"Very. Now, come here so I can wake up Naruto." She said in a gentler tone.

Naruto/Kurama made a face, and proceeded to try not to claw his eyes out.

"Yeah, you'd better hurry. They're getting to the- UGH!" He shook his head violently as he sat down.

Chiani did the same thing she had when she sent Naruto to sleep.

Kurama's features receded as his face became calmer.

Chiani took Naruto's hand again, and whispered in his ear; "Hey, wake up, bud."

Naruto winced a bit, and sat up.

"Uh, thanks for that. It was getting REALLY weird." He mumbled.

Chiani shrugged, and helped Naruto up.

"C'mon. Let's get you back home, bud."

Needless to say, Naruto didn't sleep very well.

And to top that, he had a prank to pull, so he'd set his alarm for an hour earlier.

He got up, washed, got dressed, and headed off to find his victim, a huge grin on his face.  
|-|

"Hmm, three minutes later than she promised." Kakashi muttered to himself. "Where could she -"

A voice cut him off.

"I'm right behind you." Kakashi whirled around to face Chiani, who was indeed standing behind him.

Naruto hid behind a tree, watching everything.

 _Sensei knew Chiani?_

Naruto could've slapped himself as he remembered that Chiani had been Sensei's first student.

 **~ When her entire team had failed, she had assumed that it was her fault, so she'd asked Sensei what she had done wrong.**

 **"Nothing." He had told her. "It was the others who failed you. You have amazing potential, but if the other two had worked with you as a team, then you would've passed." Chiani asked him then if it was just the others who had failed and not her, then why not just train her by herself?**

 **"You said yourself; it was the others who failed." She had pointed out. "So why not just train me?" Kakashi had been rather young back then, almost ten years older than Chiani. So he had consented, and trained her. Actually, it had been Sensei who introduced Chiani to the squad. ~**

 _But what were they doing here?_

Kakashi took Chiani's hand in his, his eyes kinder than Naruto had ever seen them.

Not that he often saw both of them at the same time, mind you - Sensei always kept his left eye, his sharingan, covered unless he needed to use it.

Chiani gently cupped Kakashi's face in her other hand, a tender smile on her own face.

Naruto watched in confusion as Sensei allowed Chiani to remove his mask.

Underneath was a mass of scars that hadn't fully healed.

Chiani pulled Sensei to his knees so she could sit down.

"And you're sure you can mend them?" He asked hesitantly.

Chiani smiled again.

"Of course I am. I wouldn't risk it on you if I wasn't completely sure, now would I?" She said gently, so gently that Naruto almost missed it.

Chiani took a deep breath, and slowly started to move her fingers across the scars.

Her lips were moving, but she said nothing.

Slowly, the scars disappeared like they'd never been there.

Chiani was rapidly turning pale, but her chakra remained strong.

By the time she couldn't keep going, there was only one scar left.

The whole process had taken three minutes.

Chiani panted heavily, her hands on her knees.

Her face was gradually regaining color, but Kakashi was still worried.

"You overdid it, Chiani." He said gently but sternly, taking both of her hands in his. "You always were an overachiever, even when it was a life-or-death fight."

Chiani looked up at Sensei, her eyes shimmering despite her exhaustion.

"Oh, just pay me already." She laughed weakly.

Kakashi smiled, then leaned down and kissed her - a proper kiss too.

Chiani's eyes slid shut as she returned the gesture.

Naruto turned away so fast that he might've been a blur; What was THAT about?

Just then, something inside him clicked: _I have to get to the bridge. It's time to leave._

Quickly, Naruto took to his feet, and dashed as fast as he could to the bridge.

About a few feet away from it, he stopped to catch his breath, then sauntered to meet with the others.

"Naruto, you're later than usual." Sakura growled.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly as he came up with an excuse.

"I got up too early, so I took the long way around." He said calmly, going to stand beside Sasuke.

In a voice low enough that Sakura couldn't hear, Sasuke muttered to Naruto:

"It's about time you got here, she's been talking nonstop. Giving me a headache."

Naruto chuckled lightly at that.

Sasuke looked at his friend in slight suspicion.

"Where were you, by the way?" He asked, still in that low tone.

Naruto kept his voice low too as he replied:

"I followed Sensei."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?" He asked.

Naruto nodded. "I'll have to tell you later, though. He should be here in 3, 2, 1_"

POOF!

Kakashi poofed up again like always whit his same old excuse.

"LIAR!" Sakura shouted again, but this time Naruto kept quiet until Sensei walked past him.

"So Sensei, how did your date go?" He asked casually, examining his fingernails as he did.

 _Yeesh, I really ought to clean those._ He thought to himself as Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" He asked quietly, but Naruto could tell he was a little scared that his student knew about that.

Naruto glanced at Sensei from the corner of his eyes, a huge grin on his face.

"Your appointment, how did it go?" He rephrased.

Kakashi turned to face Naruto, his one visible eye betraying worry.

"How did you know about that?" He asked.

Naruto quickly scanned his sensei, trying to find something that would give it away.

Then, he spotted it.

"Your mask is loosened, and you've got something on your face." He pointed out, shrugging. "Kind of obvious."

Kakashi raised his hand to check his mask, turning away from his students.

Sakura looked at Naruto in awe, and Sasuke just grinned mischievously.

Naruto held out his hand for a high-five, which, to his surprise, he got.

The moment their hands made contact, Naruto felt a strange impulse that he didn't have time to stop.

His fingers laced themselves in between Sasuke's as he brought his hand down.

His face betraying his shock, Naruto quickly pulled his hand out of Sasuke's, his face rapidly turning pink.

"S-sorry." He stammered, putting his hands in his pockets. "I-I don't know why I did that."

He looked at Sasuke, expecting to see him a little mad.

But he wasn't; Sasuke was turning pink himself, his hands in his pockets also.

Sakura just kept looking from Naruto to Sasuke as if watching an invisible tennis match.

Sensei was staring too, but more out of curiosity than confusion.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kakashi-sensei led the kids to their next training mission.

As they walked, Naruto kept his eyes on the ground, not daring to look at Sasuke.

He didn't look up until he felt someone slide their hand into his pocket and take his own hand in theirs.

Naruto looked up, startled.

It was Sasuke.

"Don't…Don't pull away this time?" He asked quietly, looking ahead of him. "Please."

Sasuke tightened his hold a bit.

Naruto sighed, and squeezed back, a small smile starting to grow on his face.

 _It wasn't a dream this time._

"Alright, we're here." Sensei said, causing the kids to stop walking.

Sasuke quickly pulled his hand out of Naruto's pocket, leaving Naruto's hand empty and cold.

Naruto's smile vanished, and he turned to see where Sensei had led them.

It was an old-ish tower, sort of like the one that the chunin preliminaries took place.

"Why here, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi-sensei waved them on as he started walking again.

"We're going to do a little test. One night here, just as a start." He said, looking at the tower the whole time. "It's perfectly clean on the inside, and well situated for three people."

"Wait, three?" Naruto jumped in. "You're not staying too, Sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"I'm afraid, Naruto, that I have another 'appointment' later." He said this with a bit of amusement and a bit of hostility combined.

Naruto got the hint, and grinned devilishly.

"Oh, I see. Well, what're we waiting for? Creepy sleepover, here I come!" He cried out, some of his former characteristics coming back.

Sakura sighed in relief.

"Finally, he's being annoying again." She said, following Kakashi-sensei to the tower.

Naruto followed behind her, the momentary relapse over with.

Sasuke stayed by Naruto, behind the other two.

He looked to Naruto, a slight sparkle in his eyes again.

Naruto grinned again, this time it was more friendly.

He took his hand out of his pocket, and took Sasuke's hand in his briefly.

Well, maybe tonight he wouldn't have that dream again.

 _ **~ Naruto stood at his window, looking at the moon and stars.**_ _ **He leaned against the window sill, his chin in his hands.**_ _ **Behind him, he felt someone wrap their arms around his waist, and rest their chin on his shoulder.**_

 _ **"Hey, come on Naruto." Sasuke whispered in that low, seductive tone. "Let's have some fun. You promised."**_ _ **Naruto grinned mischievously, and took his lover's hands in his own.**_

 _ **"Alright." He said softly. "But we have to keep quiet."**_ _ **Sasuke grinned back as he pulled Naruto towards the bed.**_

 _ **"No promises." He murmured silkily.**_ _ **Naruto's heart was racing.**_ _ **Now he knew…These dreams were DEFINITELY getting too in-depth. ~**_

Naruto shot upright once again, groaning quietly.

It was still dark outside, and the moon was full, the stars twinkling and sparkling all around it.

Naruto walked over to the window and leaned against it, just like in his dream.

But unlike his dream, he felt so confused that he couldn't think of anything.

He just looked at the moon, trying to make sense of it all; his dreams, his feelings, where his heart was telling him to look.

"Naruto?"

Naruto whirled around to face Sasuke as he walked over to the blonde's side from his post in the doorway.

He'd been standing guard just in case; you could never tell with their luck.

"Hey." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke stood next to his friend, his hands in his pockets.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, looking towards the moon.

Naruto didn't answer, fearing that Sasuke might punch him if he told him what he'd just been picturing.

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "Look, we've just started getting close as friends." He murmured. "Don't shut me out now."

Naruto turned to look at his friend, who was looking at him as well.

Naruto bit the inside of his mouth as he tried to hold back the urge to kiss Sasuke.

He settled for reaching out his hand towards him.

Sasuke took Naruto's outstretched hand, holding it gently but firmly.

"I just…" Naruto said, trying to pick his words carefully. "…Feel so at war with myself right now."

His eyes started to sting from tears that started to well up slowly as he finished.

Sasuke said nothing, but his grip kept getting tighter, and his hand started shaking.

Naruto winced at the strength of Sasuke's grip.

"Hey, think you could lighten up on my hand, there?" He asked. "You're gonna squeeze it off."

Sasuke loosened his hold, but his hand was still slightly shaky.

Naruto turned to face his friend, grabbing hold of his shoulder.

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered.

Sasuke looked at him from the corner of his eye, which was half-filled with pain-induced tears.

Naruto could see that Sasuke was biting his lip so hard that it drew blood.

Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand, and pulled a clean hankie from his pocket.

Chiani had given it to him a while back, and he'd never used it before now.

Gently, he took Sasuke's chin in one hand, and softly dabbed at his bleeding lip with the other.

In the moonlight, he could see Sasuke turning a light shade of pink as he glanced away.

Naruto kept wiping the blood off his friend's lip till most of it was gone, then he pressed the handkerchief against Sasuke's lip.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, something akin to the look Konahameru, the hokage's grandson, would give him whenever Naruto said something inspirational to him; wonder, but also a sort of deep kindness mixed in with it.

Naruto couldn't help it. He started staring.

Straight into Sasuke's black eyes.

Sasuke stared back, and it brought back a memory from the first day they met Kakashi-sensei.

 **~ Naruto and Sasuke had been glaring at each other, because back then they hated each other's guts. All the girls had gathered in one corner of the room and started shouting for Sasuke to knock Naruto out, and get it over with. Naruto had been perched on Sasuke's desk, and the guy that sat in front of Sasuke was having an absolute hoot. He pulled his arm back so he'd have a more comfortable position to watch, but wound up elbowing Naruto in the back, forcing him forward.**

 **"Sorry." He'd said. "Did I bump you?" Everyone had gone silent at the result of the guy's "bump." Naruto and Sasuke were the most surprised. They'd been accidentally forced into a kiss. Sakura had freaked out majorly, and Naruto and Sasuke had quickly turned away from each other, choking and gagging.**

 **"They are RUTHLESS." The guy had said. ~**

Naruto stroked Sasuke's lower lip with his thumb, looking from his mouth to his eyes and back again.

Finally, he went for it.

Leaning in, Naruto pressed his lips against Sasuke's, not waiting for anything to hold him back.

Sasuke seemed to relax as, without warning, he kissed Naruto back, so fiercely that Naruto stumbled backwards two steps, his eyes flashing open in momentary alarm.

He found solid footing, and matched Sasuke's fierceness with his own fire.

At the sound of Sakura moaning in her sleep about missing the last test answer, the two broke away from each other, holding their breaths.

Sakura stayed asleep, though.

Quietly, they let out their breaths, and headed to bed.

Well, Naruto did anyway.

Sasuke went back to keeping watch.

 _Smooth, kid._ Kurama chuckled. _REAL smooth._

Naruto chuckled as well, rolling onto his side.

 _Thanks, Kurama. I sure thought it was._

He grinned as he heard Kurama growl.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto woke up to the sun shining in his eyes.

"Gah, I hate it when that happens." He muttered, rubbing at his left eye.

Sakura was already up, having taken the shift over from Sasuke, who lay at the other side of the room, facing the wall.

The memory of last night's little 'moonlight moment' popped into mind, and Naruto shook his head.

 _It…it could have been a dream-within-a-dream thing._

 _It wasn't really real, was it?_

Naruto swallowed hard, and shook his head again as he got to his feet.

Sakura turned at the slight noise of Naruto's shoes scuffing the floor.

"Oh, you're up." She said quietly.

Naruto nodded, and pointed over at Sasuke with his thumb.

Sakura nodded once, crossing her arms.

"He fell asleep four hours ago." She answered.

Naruto walked over to Sasuke, crouched onto one knee, and gently shook Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hey, bud." He said gently. "Time to get up."

Sasuke sat up, holding something in his right hand.

It was a white handkerchief with brown spots on one corner.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat, and he sprang to his feet.

Sasuke followed Naruto's gaze to his hand, then he did the fastest blush Naruto had ever seen.

Sakura came over when she saw Sasuke turn his head away.

"Sasuke, what's the matter?" She inquired, dropping to her knees at his side.

"S'nothin'." Sasuke muttered, not looking at them.

Sakura waited for a little bit until she was sure that Sasuke wasn't going to tell her anything, then she got to her feet, and started to pack up the things Sensei had told them to bring.

Naruto leaned against the wall next to where Sasuke sat, his arms folded over his chest.

"So." He said.

Sasuke shrugged, and stood up.

"Yeah." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.

Naruto grinned lightly, his eyes passionate.

Sasuke smiled back in that way he always had.

"Don't tell Sensei, right?" Sasuke ventured.

Naruto chuckled.

"Hey, you know how many things we've never told Sensei?" He reminded his friend, his hands akimbo.

Sasuke shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Honestly, I lost count at 23." He admitted.

Sakura whistled at the both of them to get their attention.

"You guys just gonna stand over there yakking all day, or are you gonna help me?" She demanded, tapping her foot.

Naruto shrugged, remarking as he started to cross the room:

"Well, the master needs us to haul some loads, bud."

Sasuke caught up with him in four long strides.

"Yep, guess it's time for us to be good little pack mules now." He agreed.

Sakura sighed exasperatedly, and turned back to the gear.

"I swear…" She grumbled as the boys shot each other winks behind her back.

Chiani was waiting outside with Sensei for the three ninja.

"Hey, guys!" She chirped, giving them all a thumbs up.

"Hope you're all rested enough, because this field trip is gonna be brutal." Kakashi-Sensei warned, keeping his hands in his pockets.

 _Rrgh, the tall one is nervous._ Kurama muttered. _The scent is driving me crazy._

Naruto glanced down at his shoes, trying to keep the others from seeing the no-doubt-weird look on his face.

 _Waddya mean? Why would Sensei be nervous?_ Naruto inquired of the fox.

Kurama huffed slightly.

 _How should I know? I'm a fox demon, not a psychic._ He growled.

Naruto was about to say something else when Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto."

That was the only thing he said, and it was all he needed to say to get the point across.

Naruto took a deep breath, and nodded.

Sasuke gently squeezed Naruto's shoulder, then withdrew his hand.

Chiani looked at Naruto with a glance of extreme concern.

Naruto straightened up, a carefree grin on his face.

"I'm okay, Chiani. Don't worry about it." He said.

Chiani nodded once, then turned toward the trail.

"Right. Well, c'mon you guys." She said, heading off with Sensei.

Kurama growled again, but said nothing.

Naruto knew what he meant, though: 'She worries too much.'

And Kurama was right - Chiani did worry a lot.

Maybe that's why she had helped Sensei out with his old wounds.

"Hmm." Naruto said to himself.

"Brutal, huh?!" Naruto snapped as he fell on his rump for the fifteenth time; they'd gone off the trail onto an old side-path that hadn't been used for a while.

Sasuke held out his hand to his friend, chuckling lightly.

"You okay, loser?" He asked, more playfully that insultingly.

Naruto grinned, taking Sasuke's hand and letting him pull him up.

"I'm good, short-stuff." Naruto shot back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as they sprinted to catch up with the others.

"Seriously? A short joke?" He criticized.

Naruto huffed a bit, but kept quiet.

Chiani was at the head of the team, talking with Sensei about something.

Sakura kept her gaze down and kept silent the whole time.

Naruto and Sasuke brought up the rear, just talking about nothing in particular.

"Well, we're here." Sensei said; after an hour-and-a-half trek on the old path, they had arrived at an empty clearing, about five miles in width and three in length.

Chiani slipped off her bag, walked to the center of the field, and placed it on the ground.

"Alright, nincompoops." Chiani snapped, suddenly stern. "Today, I'M leading training."

That got everyone's attention.

Everyone except Sensei, that is.

"What?" Sakura squeaked.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, then back at Chiani.

"Meh, as long as it's training." Naruto said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"So, what the job?" Sasuke asked, tapping his foot.

Chiani and Kakashi looked at each other with glints in their eyes that left Naruto with a cold chill.

"The number one thing that you need in a team -" Chiani started.

"- And the number one thing you three need practice in…" Sensei continued.

" _ **TRUST.**_ " They said together.

Naruto groaned at those words.

"Trust exercises?" Sakura asked.

"But Sensei, isn't a given that we already trust each other?" Naruto whined, thinking about that morning and the night before.

When he'd awoken that morning, he had been ready to dismiss it all as another weird dream until he saw Sasuke holding his kerchief.

Now, Naruto wasn't sure if he trusted _HIMSELF._

Sensei put his hands in his pockets, and sighed.

"Well, as far as the battlefield goes, yes. But with everything else…" He stated, shrugging in that airy way he always seemed to have.

Chiani had taken a sketchbook out of her bag while they were talking, and she was making marks on her paper.

Or at least, as far as Naruto could see, they were some sort of marks.

"By the way, Chiani, how is that new drawing coming along?" Sensei asked, looking over at Chiani.

"Good." Chiani murmured absentmindedly, placing her pencil in her pocket, and handing her sketchbook to Sensei to look at.

"Hmm, well. Maybe you could do with a little sense of humor plot near the end?" Sensei said in a voice that the three chunin could barely hear.

Chiani nodded, and put the book away.

"RIGHT!" She chirped to the others. "First challenge, and I know that Naruto is going to have trouble with this, don't read that book whilst Kakashi and I go off to gather wood. Sakura, could you set up a spot for a fire?"

Sakura nodded, her face serious.

"You can't be serious, Chi-Chi!" Naruto laughed, using the nickname he'd given her the day they first met.

Chiani winked at her friend as she finished her sentence; "And I'm trusting you to keep your hands to and on yourself, Naruto. Surely you can do THAT?"

Naruto's face flushed the deepest crimson it had ever been in his life as the two instructors walked off.

Sakura turned to Naruto, looking baffled.

"What did she mean, 'to and on yourself'?" She asked harshly.

Naruto said nothing, but sat down on the ground and started drawing spirals in the dirt.

Sakura turned to say something to Sasuke, but his face was the exact shade of red as Naruto's, if not a shade darker.

"SASUKE-KUN?!" She yelped, using the honorific term that she had dropped after the chunin exams.

Naruto looked up to see what was wrong, then saw Sasuke's face, and blushed harder.

"S-seriously, Sasuke?" Naruto stammered. "W-why are YOU going r-red?"

Sasuke kept his mouth shut, and sat down as well.

Finally, he said quietly; "You know why, idiot."

Sakura, surprisingly, didn't press the matter, and began digging out a fire pit.

"Alright, judging by the look on your faces, boys, I'd say at least half of my request has been fulfilled." Chiani said after setting up the last branch for the campfire.

Naruto huffed slightly as he pouted at his friend.

"That wasn't funny, Chi-Chi." He growled.

Kakashi-sensei chuckled, taking something out of his pocket for a moment, and rolling it between his fingers.

"What's that, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi-sensei hastily stuffed it back into his pocket.

"N-nothing! I-I mean, nothing you need to concern yourself about, Sakura." He stuttered.

Chiani looked at Kakashi-sensei in curiosity, but he shook his head at her.

"Kakashi…" Chiani pressed, standing up and dusting her knees off.

Kakashi-Sensei sighed, then took her hand and pulled her after him to a distance where the kids couldn't hear them.

Kakashi-Sensei's face grew slightly pink as he gestured a little bit while discussing something to an obviously flustered Chiani, who grabbed his shoulders, and looked him square in the eyes, for he'd lifted his forehead protector from over his eye.

Chiani asked Kakashi-Sensei something that they couldn't hear, and Sensei nodded, placing his own hands atop of Chiani's.

Chiani's head dropped as she started to shake.

Sensei looked worried as tears fell to the ground.

Chiani wrapped her arms around Sensei's neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

Sensei placed his hands on her back, holding her gently as she continued to cry.

A breeze picked up, conveniently blowing towards the three kids who were waiting for the 'adult talk' to be over.

Now, they could pick out snatches of their conversation.

"…Chiani?" Sensei asked.

A bit of silence, then half of a reply.

"…Tomorrow…9…evening…tired of waiting for you to ask, y'know…"

After a bit longer, they came back to the campfire, and sat down.

Naruto might not have heard much, but he'd heard enough.

That, and Kurama was getting a little nauseous.

Sensei took first watch that night.

Naruto lay awake, he couldn't sleep.

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep his eyes closed.

Groaning mentally, he sat up in his sleeping bag, his face in his hands.

 _Why can't I sleep? Did what Chi-Chi said REALLY bug me that much?_ He wondered.

"Neh, Naruto." Naruto looked up to see Sakura sitting in front of him.

He had to clamp both hands over his mouth to keep himself from screaming out in surprise.

"Sakura! Warn me next time!" Naruto hissed as he lowered his hands.

Sakura brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she crawled over to the right of Naruto, and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked softly.

Naruto half sighed, half whimpered as he covered his face with his hands.

"No." He muttered, his voice muffled by his hands.

Sakura put an arm around her teammate's shoulders, and held him gently.

"Talk to me, idiot." She whispered.

Naruto took a deep breath, then took a stubborn stance as he replied:

"I can't. It'd hurt you too much."

Sakura pulled her arm away from him, and crossed her arms, looking stern.

"Try me." Sakura taunted.

Naruto sighed, and laid back down as he said:

"Let's just say, I can understand how you feel about Sasuke."

Then, he fell asleep.

"Neh, Naruto." Naruto felt someone shaking his shoulder roughly.

"Uhn, not yet." Naruto murmured, still half asleep. "Have to help Sasuke find his…"

Naruto fell back into a half-sleep stupor.

He felt someone trace their finger down his cheek.

"Help me find my what, idiot?" Sasuke whispered in his ear, blowing slightly on the back of Naruto's neck.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he shot bolt upright with a disgusted cry.

"UGH MY EYES! Jeez, I have GOT to stop having those dreams."

Sasuke chuckled as he turned to face Sakura.

"See, I didn't punch him." He said pointedly as Naruto crawled halfway out of his sleeping bag before looking down, and quickly scooting back in.

Sakura sighed in frustration.

"No, but you did SOME-thing! He just got back in!" She pointed out, literally, pointing at Naruto who was panting slightly as he held his sleeping bag down.

Sasuke growled, and took hold of the bag.

"Honestly, it's not even -" He had wrenched the bag out of Naruto's hands as he spoke, and now he knew why his friend had been so intent on staying in bed.

"N-Naruto…" Sakura stuttered, looking at him weirdly.

Sasuke stood up, his hands by his sides.

"Sakura, go finish packing your things. I'll take care of it." Sasuke instructed.

Sakura nodded, and went off to help Chiani pack things up.

Naruto's face went red, but not as red as yesterday.

Sasuke sighed again.

"Well, great job. Idiot, now I've gotta help you get that fixed."

Naruto refused to look up at Sasuke.

 _How humiliating could this be?_ He thought, wincing slightly as he stood up.

 _Well, you could've been nude._ Kurama offered, causing Naruto to make a face; why did he ask these things?

"What?" Sasuke asked, holding out his hand to Naruto.

"N-nothing." Naruto muttered, holding his own hand out, and letting Sasuke take him by the wrist, and half-drag him after himself.

"Sensei, we're gonna go wash up!" Naruto called to Kakashi-sensei as Sasuke kept dragging him along.

Sensei cocked an eyebrow at the sight of Sasuke, who was scowling, dragging Naruto after him to go get washed up.

It made no sense.

Then again, their recent behaviors hadn't made sense either, but it seemed that they had gone back to normal.

Kakashi was glad for that.

"How are you gonna fix this?" Naruto asked, his arms crossed.

Sasuke slipped his shirt off over his head before answering: "Just how you said: by washing up."

Naruto felt his stomach turn itself in knots.

"Um, you know that was just a story, right?" He asked.

Sasuke untied his forehead protector, and dropped it on top of his shirt.

"Yeah, I know." He said, slipping off his shoes.

Naruto swallowed hard, which didn't help with his 'problem'.

"Come on, idiot." Sasuke said, grinning slightly. "Or do I have to make you?"

Naruto raised his hands in surrender, and started undressing.

Chiani didn't listen to any of the conversation that went on around her as they started setting up for the next training exercise.

Her mind was still in the night before, in the question that Kakashi had put to her.

 _Heh, he waited this long to ask me?_ Chiani thought as a memory came to mind.

She knew that she really shouldn't tease Naruto about his dreams and problems, but still, it seemed pretty funny.

 _I mean, Sasuke of all people?_ She thought, shaking her head.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked, bringing Chiani back to the present.

"Yup, good to go." She confirmed.

Kakashi turned back to the kids (Naruto and Sasuke came back from 'washing up' a while ago,) and whistled loudly to get their attention.

"Hey, we're ready for you!" Kakashi called.

The kids stood up, (Naruto first, who then helped the other two to their feet,) and walked over to the small platform that Kakashi-sensei and Chiani had set up.

"A trust fall!" Sakura exclaimed almost immediately.

Chiani winked at the sharp-minded girl.

"Yup! And we're all gonna take turns trying it out." She explained, stepping up onto the platform.

Kakashi-sensei walked to the front of the platform as Chiani turned around so that her back faced Sensei.

"Alright, the task is pretty simple." Sensei said, taking a more secure footing.

"One person falls backwards, and the other catches them." He continued.

Chiani cut in swiftly. "The point is so you know if you can trust the other person with even your life."

And with that, she fell back towards the ground.

Kakashi-Sensei caught her just before she reached the ground.

"Then hold them up for a count of ten." Chiani said, and a few seconds after, Kakashi-Sensei loosened his hold on her so she could stand.

"Alright, then." Sensei said, pointing to Sakura. "Sakura, you're up first."

Sakura nodded, and stepped onto the platform.

"Who's catching me, Sensei?" Sakura asked, turning around.

"I am." Kakashi-sensei said plainly.

Sakura seemed to stiffen.

"Oh. _AWESOME._ " Sakura said sourly.

Kakashi-Sensei took his position again, and with a deep breath, Sakura let gravity take over.

Unlike with Chiani, at the last second, Sensei turned quickly, and caught Sakura in a bridal-style hold.

"See? Nothing to it." Sensei said to a flushed Sakura.

Chiani cleared her throat loudly to get his attention, and Sensei placed Sakura on her feet.

"Uh, sorry about that." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Chiani smiled, and beckoned for Naruto to take Kakashi-Sensei's place.

"Sasuke, you're next." Sensei said before Chiani reached the platform.

"WHAT?!" Naruto hollered, his face subconsciously flushing red.

"Um, Kakashi, I was going to go next, I thought." Chiani said in an inquisitive tone.

Kakashi shook his head, and motioned for Sasuke to go onto the platform, which he did rather begrudgingly.

"Don't you DARE drop me." Sasuke said under his breath.

Naruto nodded curtly, and took his stance.

Sasuke turned around, took a deep breath, and fell back.

Instinct overrode instruction, and Naruto caught Sasuke without hesitation, clasping his hands together as he held his friend.

"1, 2, 3.." Chiani started counting.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who stared right back.

Standing there, with his arms around the one person he had never expected to feel this way about, just looking into each other's eyes that way…

Time seemed to stop, and Chiani's voice faded away as they stood there together.

Sasuke placed his hand on top of Naruto's, and smiled.

"Hey, guys!"

Both of them snapped to as Chiani shouted at them.

The other three were looking at them in a funny way as Chiani came towards them.

"You can let go now, Naruto." She said calmly.

Naruto nodded, and reluctantly released his hold on Sasuke, who stood up, and held out his hand to Naruto.

Naruto took it, and they shook hands. "Alright, next…"

They continued until everyone had had a turn catching and falling.

At the end of the day, Chiani took Naruto off on their own for a bit.

"Naruto, you totally zoned out today." She said, sounding concerned. "Are you doing okay?"

Naruto glanced down at his sandals and said nothing for a while.

Finally, when Chiani crossed her arms and sighed in disappointment, he told her what had happened at the tower.

Chiani said nothing, but took the young man in her arms, holding him close to her chest.

"Naruto, I know what you're going through right now, believe me." She said quietly as she just held him.

Naruto slowly returned the embrace as she started speaking again.

"Promise me that you won't expect the same feelings from him because of that." Chiani whispered in a strained voice.

Naruto could feel something wet falling on his shoulder, and realized that she was crying.

"O-okay." He said softly.

" _PROMISE ME!"_ Chiani cried out, causing the others to turn in their direction.

Naruto sighed, and pulled away enough to see her face.

"I _promise._ " He said through gritted teeth, gripping her shoulders.

Chiani nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"S-sorry. I just…" Her voice trailed off, but Naruto knew what she would've said.

He draped his arm around her shoulders, and led her back to the campfire.

Everyone looked at him for an explanation, but he shook his head.

"Sensei, I think she needs to talk to her teacher for a bit." Naruto said, removing his arm from Chiani's shoulders.

Kakashi-Sensei nodded, and held out his hand to his former student.

Chiani took his hand, and sat next to him, still drying her eyes.

Taking a twig from nearby, she started writing something in the dirt for him to read.

Sakura was about to ask about it, but Naruto took her wrist to get her attention.

Sakura looked to him, and he shook his head, letting go of her wrist.

Sasuke seemed a little ruffled, but said nothing.

Things later that night got a little difficult, though.

Sasuke stood on first watch tonight by an old gnarled oak tree, and everyone was asleep.

Everyone but Naruto once again, who was sitting up in his sleeping bag, looking at the moon.

Sasuke turned to check on the others, and saw Naruto awake.

"Hey, Naruto." He called softly. Naruto turned to face his friend.

"Yeah, what is it?" He answered.

Sasuke motioned with his hand for Naruto to come to him.

Naruto's hands grew clammy and sweaty at the same time as he stood up, and went to stand by Sasuke's side.

"Um, what did you…" Naruto started.

"The other night." Sasuke cut him off abruptly.

Naruto blushed immediately.

"Oh." That was all he said.

Sasuke sighed, his hands in his pockets, and his face flushed deep red as well as he tried to say something.

Naruto looked up at the sky, and chuckled lightly.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" He asked.

Sasuke looked at him in confusion.

Naruto looked at his friend with a smile, then nodded toward the sky.

"The stars." He explained.

Sasuke looked up at the sky as well.

There were so many stars that it looked like a little kid's glitter project.

"Wow…" Sasuke whispered, suddenly feeling small.

Naruto chuckled again, lowering his head and turning his gaze to his feet.

"That feeling you have right now, looking at something so amazing and incredible…"

Sasuke looked back at Naruto, still a little dazed from the immensity of the night sky

"Heh…" Naruto looked at Sasuke with shining eyes.

"That's how I feel when I'm with you." He said gently.

Sasuke's heart missed a beat as both what Naruto had said and the words he'd been looking for sank in.

Sasuke quickly turned his head away, the blush in his cheeks rising to a new hue.

"B-baka…" He muttered, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Naruto felt like he'd been punched.

He hung his head, and turned to leave.

Sasuke grabbed his wrist, his head still downcast.

"Eh? Sasuke…" Naruto hissed, trying to pull away, but Sasuke tightened his grip.

"…You stole my line." Sasuke said finally.

Naruto's shock was doubled as Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shoulders, pulled him to himself, and kissed him.

Naruto couldn't have been happier than he was on that night.

And as if planned, a shooting star show began to fall as the two stood by the old oak tree, holding onto each other as if they had nothing in the world to worry about ever again.

Pulling out from the kiss, Sasuke chuckled.

"Sure are some bright stars out." He whispered. Naruto grinned, holding his best friend closer.

"Sure are." He agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto woke up the next morning against the tree trunk, a blanket draped over him. Sasuke was sitting by him, dozing as Kakashi-sensei stood watch.  
"Oh, Naruto. Good, you're awake." Kakashi-sensei said.  
Naruto sat up, shifting around a bit, and putting the blanket on Sasuke as he stood up.  
"Well. That's a rather thoughtful thing to do." Kakashi-sensei remarked.  
Naruto nodded, and stretched.  
"How long have you been standing guard, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.  
Kakashi-sensei turned back to the view in front of him.  
"About three hours." He answered.  
Naruto turned to look as well.  
"Wow." He said breathlessly.  
Simply put, _**"Wow"**_ wasn't enough to describe the sight. From where they stood, you had a perfect view of the entire valley, bathed in crimson light as the sun rose over the land. Naruto sat down again, taking it all in, realizing for one of those occasional moments just how big the world really was.  
"It's awesome, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto whispered, without really knowing why he was whispering in the first place.  
Kakashi-sensei chuckled, taking a seat next to his student.  
"It is, isn't it?" He said, brushing his bangs out of his face.  
Naruto suddenly straightened up, a thought having occurred to him.  
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei? Have you ever heard of two boy ninja falling for each other? I'm just wondering."  
Naruto asked as normally as he could pull off.  
Kakashi-sensei looked at Naruto in surprise.  
"Now, where'd you get that question from?" Kakashi-sensei asked coolly.  
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly, pulling his knees to his chest, and resting his chin on top of them.  
"I don't know. I guess. I was just thinking, is all." He said quietly, staring straight ahead.  
Kakashi-sensei stayed silent for a few seconds.  
"As a matter of fact, I have." He said, but his voice held a bit of resentment in it.  
"So, it's not uncommon, then?" Chiani said, surprising both of the others, and sitting on Naruto's other side.  
"No, it's just not unheard of." Kakashi-sensei corrected her.  
Naruto sighed, his mind racing at a million miles per second, which was a new feeling for him.  
Chiani saw his expression, and put an arm around her little friend's shoulders.  
"Hey, don't get so worked up about it." She whispered to Naruto, keeping her voice low so Kakashi couldn't hear.  
Naruto made a small noise, and laid his head against her shoulder, which surprised her.  
"What're you…" Chiani stuttered.  
"You're the closest thing to a mother that I can remember." Naruto said, closing his eyes.  
"You just make me feel better, is all." He continued.  
Chiani smiled, rubbing Naruto's shoulder.  
"I get it. I comfort you more than the others do, right?" She asked gently.  
Naruto nodded, keeping his eyes shut.  
Chiani said nothing after that, but just looked at Kakashi, her eyes shining. Kakashi shook his head, chuckling slightly.  
"Remember when they used to be at each other's throats?" Kakashi asked Chiani, realizing that Naruto had fallen asleep again.  
Chiani nodded, laughing softly.  
"Always butting heads, those two." She said, thinking about the day she'd first met the kids of Squad 7.

|-|  
 **It was a warm spring day, and Kakashi had asked her to come check out his new team of trainees.  
"So, you finally passed a team?" Chiani asked.  
"Well, they gave me a good reason to pass them." Kakashi answered.  
They'd met up with the kids on the old bridge.  
"Sorry I'm late. I ran into an old friend of mine." Kakashi explained, motioning towards Chiani.  
Naruto snickered.  
"That your girlfriend, Sensei?" He asked, breaking down laughing.  
Chiani turned a light pink as Kakashi waited for Naruto to calm down a bit.  
"No, Naruto. In fact, I doubt if I asked her if she would even accept." Kakashi answered his student.  
Chiani, suddenly offended, stepped forward and took Kakashi's wrist.  
"How would you know, you've never asked!" She snapped at him, then covered her mouth in embarrassment.  
Kakashi's eye seemed to gain a hint of hopefulness, but was quickly squashed by his better judgment.  
"I never asked because it wouldn't have been proper, not because I didn't want to." He murmured in a voice that only Chiani could hear.  
After that slightly embarrassing sequence, they introduced themselves, and told each other stories, including the one where Naruto and Sasuke had their 'accident' in class. Chiani practically died from laughing so hard, but the boys looked like they just wanted to die.**

|-|  
Chiani looked over to Sasuke, who was starting to wake up.  
"It's a little strange." She murmured.  
"What is?" Kakashi asked.  
"I never thought that Sasuke, of all people, would be the one to take our little Naruto's heart." Chiani said, sounding a little concerned.  
Sasuke stood up, and walked over to the two jounin.  
"*heh* He's asleep again?" Sasuke asked, his hands in his pockets.  
"Yeah. He's a sweet kid when he wants to be." Chiani said, kissing Naruto's forehead where the protector had slid up.  
"Yeah, I guess." Sasuke said distractedly, staring at Naruto distantly.  
"Hey, Sasuke. Can you hold him for me?" Chiani asked.

"Huh?! Why ask me?!" Sasuke hissed.  
"Because it'll be less weird if he wakes up leaning against you instead of Kakashi." Chiani hissed back.  
Sasuke scoffed, and consented silently by getting on his knees, and holding out his arms, doing his best to look indignant. Chiani gently laid Naruto on Sasuke's lap, and went off to wake Sakura.  
"You know, Sasuke…" Kakashi-sensei said.  
Sasuke looked at his teacher.  
"That does kind of look normal for you two." Sensei finished.  
Sasuke scoffed again, but turned a little pink as well.  
Sensei chuckled at Sasuke's reaction as he continued to speak.  
"He asked me something rather odd a few minutes ago. Would you like to know what it was?" Kakashi-sensei asked, keeping an air of indifference.  
"No, not really." Sasuke mumbled.  
Kakashi-sensei made a noise like 'fine then', and left it alone.  
"WAHH! S-Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura cried upon seeing Naruto on Sasuke's lap, fast asleep.  
"SHHH!" Sasuke snapped, but a little too late.  
Naruto groaned a little as he opened his eyes.  
"Doh! Nice job, Sakura." Sasuke growled.

Naruto looked confused as he pushed himself up, bracing his hands on Sasuke's knees, which made the whole thing a little more awkward for Sasuke.  
"How did I get on you?" Naruto asked a now very red, very flustered Sasuke.  
"Ah, um, w-well, I…" Sasuke stuttered, trying to beat the rising embarrassment and speak.  
"I asked him to." Chiani said, walking over to them again.  
Naruto rubbed at his eyes, apparently not bothered about it all.  
"Ah, awight." He yawned, stretching and standing up.  
Sasuke stood up as well, motioning for Chiani to follow him. Chiani complied, and went with him until they were out of ear-shot.  
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Chiani asked.  
"You asked me to take him for other reasons than what you said, didn't you?" Sasuke accused, looking furious.  
Chiani grinned mischievously.  
"Maybe I had an ulterior motive." She taunted, staring at her nails.  
"Maybe not. What's it to you?" She asked, acting so completely unperturbed that Sasuke look like he was going to slap her for a second.

Sasuke took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it out.  
"Nothing. Never mind." He murmured, walking back to the others.

|-|  
 _" Nah, nah, nah.  
Tell me what your secret is.  
Nah, nah, nah.  
Won't you let me know?  
Nah, nah, nah.  
Nothing makes me feel like this.  
Nah, nah, nah.  
'Cause you're my favorite kiss. "  
_Chiani spun around the room of the inn they were staying that night, a bottle of saké in her hand.  
"Hmm, drinking on a mission." Sakura grumbled.  
It had been five days since their training trip, and the Hokagé had requested them to take on a high-stakes mission in another village.  
Naruto seemed interested in Chiani's new song.  
"How'd you come up with that one, Chi-Chi?" He asked.  
Chiani spun around to face Naruto, but fell onto Kakashi-sensei's lap by accident.  
"Whoops! Sorry, Teach." She said, her words slurred due to the alcohol.

Chiani cleared her throat, holding her bottle up like she was going to make an important statement.  
"To be perfectly honest… I can't remember right now." She laughed, putting the bottle down for once that night.  
"Ugh, I'm gonna be pretty sick in the morning." Chiani said, leaning back against Kakashi, who she was still sitting on.  
"I wouldn't be surprised." Kakashi-sensei remarked, never taking his eyes off his book, but with his free hand, took the bottle she'd set down and moved it away from her reach.  
"Aw, come on, Kakashiiiieeeeeeeee…" Chiani whined.  
"No more liquor for you tonight." Kakashi-sensei said sternly.  
Chiani pouted, crossing her arms and sticking out her lower lip, but Kakashi-sensei didn't change his mind. Instead, he tapped her nose lightly, and shook his head.  
"You know that doesn't work anymore." He scolded.  
Chiani pulled her lip back in and sat up slowly, deliberately placing her hands against Kakashi's knees to brace herself. Even the kids could tell his concentration on the book had lessened a bit.  
"Fine. I'll bet I know what does, though." Chiani said slyly.

Kakashi-sensei put his book down, and crossed his arms.  
"In front of the kids?" He asked, sounding skeptical.  
Chiani sighed, and laid back down.  
"Whatever, man." She grumbled, tracing spirals on Kakashi's knee.  
"Stoppit." Kakashi mumbled, looking a little uncomfortable.  
Naruto cut in with a new question.  
"So, how come you drank half the bottle?" He asked.  
Chiani shrugged, shifting around to get more comfortable.  
"Dunno. Why do you do the things you do?" She muttered, shutting her eyes.  
"Shuddap, and lemme sleep." Chiani grumbled before conking out, her head lying on Kakashi's leg.  
"Well." Kakashi-sensei said, putting his book away.  
"I say we take a leaf out of her book, and call it a night." He instructed.

Naruto woke up later that night, panting hard and sweating profusely. He pressed his palm against his forehead, feeling frustrated.  
"Damn." He whispered to himself.  
Sasuke stirred in his sleep, turning over on his side.  
The girls had their own room across from the one the boys were in, and sensei had his own room as well. Their client owned the inn, so they hadn't needed to pay for them. Naruto looked over to Sasuke, thinking of what Chiani had told him:  
 _ **"Don't expect the same feelings from him just because he responded."**_  
She had pounded that into his head so often that he couldn't help but feel disheartened.  
As quietly as he could, Naruto slipped out of his bed, and crept over to Sasuke.  
"Sasuke?" He whispered, doing his best not to shake him.  
"Sasuke!" Naruto hissed.  
Sasuke turned to face Naruto, sitting up quietly.  
"What is it, Naruto?" He mumbled.  
Naruto swallowed hard, thinking about the one thing he wanted to ask more than anything.  
Instead, he swerved off that track, and blurted out the same old excuse about not being able to sleep.  
Sasuke scoffed, and shifted over.  
"Fine, dobé." He grumbled. "But just this once."  
Naruto, surprised, climbed in next to Sasuke.  
"Th-thanks." Naruto murmured. "Never again, promise."  
Sasuke grinned to himself as he laid back down, asked: "Are you sure it isn't because of those little 'moonlight moments' we've been having?"  
Naruto said nothing, but pulled the blankets up to his chin and shut his eyes.  
Sasuke sighed, and sat up again.  
"Naruto, I get how you feel about me." He started, but Naruto clapped his hands over his ears, shaking his head.  
"I know what you're going to say: you only responded just to humor me." Naruto said, his voice relaying the pain that was growing in his chest, and his eyes stinging.  
Sasuke shook his head, forgetting for a moment that Naruto couldn't see him in the darkness of the room, and took Naruto's hand that was nearest to him, pulling it off his ear.  
"No, I didn't." He whispered, slipping his fingers between Naruto's.  
"I was going to say it was something I'm not used to." Sasuke continued, gripping Naruto's hand tighter.  
"But?" Naruto prompted.  
Sasuke sighed, grabbed Naruto's shirt front, and pulled him up.  
"But I honestly think that it's something I've been waiting for…for a while." He finished.  
Naruto sat up on his own accord, feeling as if he was being torn up and being stuck back together wrong.  
"What? How long?" Naruto asked hoarsely.  
"Ever since Wave Country." Sasuke admitted. "I finally figured out what made me throw myself in the way of Haku's attack."  
Naruto grinned into the shadows, gripping Sasuke's hand just as tightly.  
"It was your heart, wasn't it?" Naruto asked.  
Sasuke let go of Naruto's shirt front, and instead slipped his arm around his friend's waist, pressing his forehead to Naruto's.  
"Now, you get it." Sasuke murmured gently.  
"Idiot." He added.  
Naruto slipped his other hand behind Sasuke's head, tangling his fingers in his hair as he pulled him in for a kiss.  
But this kiss was different from the last two times. It was more sincere, more heartfelt.  
More loving than the other ones.

|-|  
 _ **(A/N: Hey, guys! New chapter. Probably shorter than the other two, but a chapter nonetheless. Once more, I kindly ask you: If you must insult and use strong language to do it, shout it at your screen instead of leaving it on my story, because more-n-likely I'm going to delete your comment faster than you can say "Diaboloid".  
'Kay, thanks!)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto and Sasuke might've thought they were the only two awake, but there were two other night owls up and about at that time.

|-|  
Chiani sat out on the roof, looking at the sky, her right hand clutched around a kunai handle.  
Biting her lip, she cursed herself as she thought of her and Kakashi's recent jounin mission.

|-|  
 **They'd been sent to handle some sort of riot in a neighboring country's main village. It had been worse than Lord Hokagé had expected. The entire village was on the brink of being overtaken by a gang of powerful missing-nin, all of whom were extremely powerful and dangerous. Chiani hadn't used so much fighting energy in such a long time. It had taken her by shock when her former killer state kicked in during the middle of the battle. Her vision went red, her body seemed to move by itself, and her mouth was filled with warm blood again and again. By the time she'd finished, out of all the ninja, only she and Kakashi were still breathing. Still overcome by her old ferocity, she turned to Kakashi, a new lust washing over her battle-insane mind: protect him at all costs. Chiani was crouched, like a cat tensing up, and preparing to pounce upon a mouse. Kakashi approached her slowly, holding out his hand. As soon as he was close enough, Chiani took his wrist gently, and placed his hand against her cheek. The battle-lust faded away, and Chiani collapsed.**

|-|  
Chiani watched her other hand as she clenched and unclenched her hand into a fist. She hadn't gone insane like that for at most a year-and-a-half.  
 _Why now?_ She wondered, gritting her teeth and slamming her fist into her leg, not bothered about the pain.  
 _Why after all this time?  
_ Chiani covered her face with her free hand as she started to shed tears of frustration.  
"Hey, you'll catch cold out here in those." Kakashi said, sitting down next to her.  
Chiani huffed quietly as she realized her legs were covered in goose-bumps. It _was_ a cold night out, and she was wearing a pair of dark blue shorts, and a sleeveless shirt.  
"S'fine." She murmured, looking back to the sky.  
"Not cold." Chiani lied.  
Kakashi shook his head at her stubbornness.

"*heh* Sure." He replied, looking to the sky as well.  
They both stayed silent for a while. At least, until Kakashi had to ask: "What're you doing out here?"  
Chiani shook her head.  
"Couldn't sleep. Still spooked out." She admitted.  
Kakashi sighed.  
"Oh." That was all he said.  
In truth, that was all he needed to say.  
Chiani poked at the roof underneath her with the tip of her kunai, and started thinking of their first missions together.  
How Kakashi taught her how to keep on her guard, even when relaxing, how they kept up with each other no matter how much work it was, and how, on one of the hardest missions of her life, she had created a memory-sealing jutsu all by herself. And afterwards, how Kakashi always kept a journal so that he could remember every mission they'd gone on since.  
Chiani felt horrible about the memory-sealing jutsu, but she hadn't ever wanted it to be removed. Lord Hokagé had discovered it when he read the mission report after they'd gotten back, and he knew there was something wrong.  
Kakashi wasn't the type of person to forget the details of a mission, no matter what the circumstances. Chiani could still remember the scolding Lord Hokagé had given her.  
 _ **As soon as you are able, you are to remove that seal.**_ Lord Hokagé had ordered her.  
 _ **We can't have Kakashi forgetting anything important.**_  
 _But it wasn't important._ Chiani had told herself everyday afterwards, but she knew she was lying to herself to keep from breaking.  
A lump formed in her throat as she glanced towards Kakashi from the corners of her eyes.  
Steeling her resolve, she told herself: _It's time. Just do it._  
"Kakashi?" Chiani said, to get his attention.  
"Hmm?" Kakashi replied.  
Chiani took his face in her hands, and pressed her forehead to his, muttering the words to release the seal.  
 _"Jikan to kūkan,  
basho no machi,  
karera wa,  
genzai shira rete iru koto ga dekimasu."  
_Kakashi cringed as she spoke, then once she'd finished, flinched as if he'd been struck, and pulled away, one hand clutching at his head.  
"Wh-what?" He gasped as the sealed memories found their ways to the surface of his mind.

Chiani said nothing, but turned her back to him, and went back to staring at the stars.  
Kakashi seemed a little frightened, but he got over his initial shock relatively quickly, quicker than Chiani would've expected.  
When Kakashi finally spoke, he sounded sad.  
"So, all this time…You've hid that from me?" He asked.  
Chiani said nothing, but pulled her knees to her chest, and kept her eyes fixed forward.  
Kakashi knew the meaning of her silence, but he took her hand anyways.  
"Chi-Chi…" He said gently.  
Chiani sighed at the use of her nickname.  
"Did Lord Hokagé ever tell you how I wanted to raise Naruto?" She asked, holding onto his hand tightly.  
Kakashi thought for a bit, then chuckled as he remembered the day when he'd come in with a mission report and found Chiani and Lord Hokagé arguing about something.

|-|  
 **"I've already told you before, Shiku." Lord Hokagé said angrily. "The answer is still 'no'."**

 **Chiani slammed the desktop in frustration.  
"But, sir!" She shouted.  
"Shiku, 'no' means 'no' and that's final!" Lord Hokagé yelled at her.  
Chiani growled, and stormed off, nearly knocking Kakashi over in the process.**

|-|  
Chiani laughed scornfully as she thought of how long she'd tried to get the Hokagé to give her the right to look after Naruto.  
"I must've gone there every day after Naruto had been brought to the village, begging Hokagé-sama to let me have the child." She murmured.  
"You were barely a chunin at the time." Kakashi said in confusement.  
"What would you possibly want with a baby?" He asked.  
Chiani chuckled at the memory.  
"In truth? I just wanted to protect him." She admitted.  
"Ah." Kakashi replied, going over his new memories.  
Chiani made an uncomfortable noise, and tried to pull her hand out of Kakashi's, but he just held on.  
"Hey." Chiani said quietly.  
"Hmm?" Kakashi asked.  
Chiani bit her lip, worried about what his answer would be. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerve.  
"If…if you had the chance to actually be serious about it, you know, like the stuff in your book…" Her voice trailed off, her face burning with embarrassment.  
"Would I do it?" Kakashi finished for her.  
Chiani stayed quiet, too embarrassed to say anything.  
Kakashi blew a sigh, running his other hand through his hair.  
"Well, yeah, I guess." He answered.  
Chiani squeezed his hand, her nerve completely forgotten, and the words just flew from her mouth.  
"W-well, now that you remember, I-I was just thinking that…M-maybe w-we c-could…" Once again, her voice sputtered to a stop, her face so warm that she assumed she was a pure crimson shade.  
Kakashi said nothing. In the light of the torches that burned in front of the inn entrance, he saw his former student's eyes dart all over as she watched a pair of cats play chase.  
 _Ah, Kakashi._ He cursed himself mentally as he pulled down his mask. _You always were too soft on her._

"Chi-Chi…" He murmured.  
Chiani turned to face her old friend, and was hit with dejá vú as Kakashi, who was normally so strong and mature, pressed his lips to hers, and held her as if there was nothing else in the world more important.

|-|  
The next few days were more confusing to Sakura than any day of her life had ever been. Sasuke and Naruto kept playfully roughhousing around, which they'd never done before, and Sensei was constantly taking Chiani's hand when he thought no-one was watching. As soon as they got the mission done and gotten home, Sakura took Naruto to one side and asked him point-blank what was going on.  
Of course, he didn't tell her, which frustrated her even more.

"I don't get it, Ino." Sakura complained to her old friend later the day they got home.  
"Sasuke-kun and Naruto being all buddy-buddy? Sensei with Chiani-chan? What's going on, it's like a badly written fairy-story or something!" Sakura cried, holding her head as if she was worried that it might explode. _**(Come over HERE and say that!)**_  
Ino shrugged, fixing a bouquet that had been pre-ordered.  
"I have no idea, Sakura. I wasn't there." She reminded Sakura.  
"Aw…Oh, I don't know what to do anymore, Ino." Sakura groaned, laying her forehead against the table.  
Ino chuckled, pulling a caramel out of her pocket and placing it next to Sakura's head.  
"Relax, would'ja? It just means they're growing up finally." Ino reassured her.  
Sakura didn't seem convinced, but she took the caramel anyways.

|-|  
"You're sure about this?" Kakashi asked as Chiani took her stance.  
"Just do it." She said testily. "And don't hold back too much, or it won't be as fun."  
Kakashi shrugged, and took his own stance.  
A drop of a pin could've been heard in the silence that was created in that field.  
Then, they leapt into action.  
Training was a good way for Chiani to focus her mind, but it'd been too long since their last bout.  
Kakashi had asked her about it the first night of the kids' training mission, when he'd taken her off to the side.

Of course she'd want to go a couple rounds.  
It was just a sparring match, but they both fought at such a speed that it would've been near to impossible for a bystander to keep visual contact with their movements.

"You've gotten stronger." Kakashi noted as they sat for a while, taking a break from their match.  
"I have been practicing, you know." Chiani pointed out, taking a drink of water.  
"I've never known you not to practice." Kakashi assured her.  
Chiani laughed as she shifted in her spot.  
"Yeah, well…Every student has to surpass their teacher someday, right?" She reminded Kakashi as she stood up and dusted off her knees.  
"Hold on a minute." Kakashi said, standing up.  
Chiani turned to her former teacher, a look of slight confusion on her face.  
"Would you rather dance?" Kakashi asked, holding out his hand.  
"Huh? But we don't have music." Chiani said, still confused.  
"Now, whoever said music was necessary to dance?" Kakashi replied, taking her hand.  
A breeze began to pick up as he took her hand, and Chiani could hear a melody from somewhere. Before she could think about it, they were dancing as if they were in the middle of a ball.  
"See?" Kakashi said, pulling Chiani in from a spin.  
"I don't know what you're talking about, I can hear music somewhere." She answered, spinning out again.  
Kakashi seemed confused as he caught her hand when she spun back in.  
"Huh, I can't hear anything." He mused.  
Chiani shook her head, and they kept dancing, well into the afternoon.

"Long enough for you?" Kakashi asked, letting go of her hands.  
"Yeah." Chiani replied, walking over to her weapons and picking them up.  
"Oh? You want to spar again?" Kakashi said amusedly.  
"No, I was planning on heading home and taking a bath, actually." Chiani answered, putting her kunai away.  
"Tomorrow." Kakashi called as she headed down the hill they were on.  
"What?" Chiani called back, stopping and turning back.

"I…want to see you tomorrow. There's…something rather important I want to discuss with you." Kakashi rephrased.  
Chiani nodded, and left.  
Kakashi groaned inwardly, and took something small from his pocket.  
 _As if it wasn't hard enough without those missing memories._ Kakashi thought, staring at the little circlet in his palm.  
 _No, they've made it easier. I can do this._ He assured himself, steeling his resolve.  
 _I hope._

|-|  
Naruto was one of the two least worried people in the team. He laid on his bed, one hand behind his head, the other clutching Sasuke's.  
"You do know that we could just go hang out somewhere, right?" Sasuke asked, sitting up slowly.  
"Yeah, I know." Naruto answered.  
"So, why are we just lying around again?" Sasuke pressed, swinging their interlocked hands gently.  
Naruto looked over to Sasuke, his sharp blue eyes glittering with mischief.  
"I'm waiting on you." He said simply.  
Sasuke got what he meant, and dropped Naruto's hand, his face going reddish-pink.

"Um, d-do you think that's a good idea? Doing it at this age?" He stuttered.  
Naruto sat up, laughing loudly.  
"Oh, come on! It's just staying the night, what's the problem?" He asked, punching Sasuke lightly in the shoulder.  
 _ **(You thought it was something perverted, huh?)**_  
Sasuke seemed to calm down a bit.  
"Alright. Sheesh, elaborate next time, dummy." He muttered.  
"Ah, you love me, and you know it." Naruto shot back, grinning as he did.  
Sasuke chuckled, wrapping his arms around Naruto's waist and resting his chin on Naruto's shoulder.  
"Yeah. I do." He agreed.

|-|  
 _ **(A/N: Alright, nincompoops! *No, I'm not talking to you, Naruto. Shut up!* First off, to the people who are still leaving hate comments on my story, I have left notices on almost every page saying that A: IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT, and B: IF YOU MUST HATE, AT LEAST BE PG ABOUT IT. Honestly, I'm not putting any smut in it, I'm not writing anything sex-related, and I've given you no reason to hate me, and/or call me a whore or a bitch. So, I would appreciate it if you haters would please be a little more, I don't know, NICER when you're hating. Thank you.  
Everyone who's enjoying the story, I'm sorry about that little outburst. Please don't think I'm a bad person or anything. I'm just trying to be non-violent about it.)**_


	5. Chapter 5

Time went on, and eventually Sasuke and Naruto grew apart.  
Sakura never lost her love for Sasuke, who became a rouge ninja.  
Naruto went on to save Hinata Hyuga and her sister from a crazed moon-dwelling Byakuyan ninja, and eventually they married, and Naruto fulfilled his dream, becoming Hokagé.  
Kakashi, however, waited too long. That ring never found its way to Chiani's hand.  
Chiani left the village for a year-and-a-half, returning with a baby girl in tow.  
She and Kakashi rarely spoke afterwards, then tragedy struck.  
One night, when the child was no more than four years of age, Chiani was on her way to meet with Kakashi.  
She was going to tell him the reason to her leaving.  
But she collapsed before the door, and was rushed to the hospital.  
Two hours later, she died in the hospital bed, entrusting Naruto and Hinata with the care of her daughter.  
The two raised her as well as they could, keeping her from the truth that her mother had told them with her dying breath.

But who was the father of that innocent child?  
Why wait so long to come home?  
And what would happen in the future, to Sasuke?  
Will the past try to resurface and take the place of Naruto's present?

Eh, I don't know yet, but you'll just have to wait and see! ^-^

|-|  
A note from the author:  
Hey, guys.  
Well, that was the story, but pretty soon I'm going to start posting a sort of semi-sequel story that I'm still working on.  
And before you ask, NO it has no yaoi intended.  
But if I want, I'm going to write some. =)  
AND JOO CANNOT STAHP MEH!  
Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!  
*Deep gasp*  
Whatever, but still, keep an eye out.  
Luvs u, guys! ^-^


End file.
